Vending machine



Marchz, 1937. S C ,D 2,074,845 Y VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 16, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet 1 March 23, 1937. s Q [DE 7 2,074,845

VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 16, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 23,1937 VENDING MACHINE Sherwood C. Ide, Buffalo, N. Y., assignor to IraMilton Jones, Thiensville, Wis.

Application November 16, 1933, Serial No. 698,232

1 Claim. (Cl. 312-96) This invention relates to certain new and usefulimprovements in vending machines, and refers more particularly tomachines of the type forming the subject matter of the copendingapplication of Sherwood C. Ide, Serial No. 592,013, filed February 10,1932, and which has. now eventuated into Patent No. 1,978,205.

In the machine of the aforesaid application, a series of trays arecarried by a pair of spaced endless chains to convey articles to bevended past a display window in the enclosing housing and to a point ofdischarge. The discharge of the selected article from the machine iseffected by coin controlled instrumentalities actuated by means of amanually operable handle.

The endless chains forming the conveyer on which the article supportingtrays are mounted are trained about vertically spaced sets of sprockets,and the chains are driven about the sprockets by means of a handle onthe exterior of the machine. Normal actuation of the handle properlyeffects the desired motion'of the conveyer, but it was found that theconveyer was actuated too rapidly or was quickly shifted back and forth,the articles deposited on the trays were often thrown therefrom.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide means to holdthe articles against acci-. dental displacement from the trays.

It is also an object of this invention to provide novel means to movethe guards or holding means provided to retain the articles on thetrays, to inoperative positions during the tilting ofthe trays to effectthe discharge of articles therefrom.

A further object of this invention resides in the provision of a simplearticle retaining guard structure carried by each tray and held in, itsoperative position by spring means.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafterdescribed and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it beingunderstood that such changes in the precise embodiment of thehereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of theclaim.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one complete example ofthe physical embodiment of my invention. constructed according to thebest mode I have so far devised for the practical application of theprinciples thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section view through the lower discharge endportion of a machine of the type illustrated in the aforesaidapplication, Serial No. 592,013, said view illustrating a tray ready tobe tilted;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but illustrating the tray tiltedand with the associated parts in their discharging positions.

Fgure 3 is a fragmentary front view taken on the plane of the line 3-3of Figure 1, illustrating particularly the mechanism for moving theguard to inoperative position; and

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the trays illustratingthe guard applied thereto.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings in whichlike numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, thenumeral 5 represents the discharge chute of a vending machine of thetype illustrated in the aforesaid application. This chute comprisesspaced side walls 6 connected at the rear by an inclined curved wall 1.The front of the chute is open.

A trap door 8, hingedly mounted from the side walls 6 as at 9, normallycloses the chute across its top. The trap door 8 is held in its closedposition by a hook I0 carried by the door and engaged with a latch II.The latch II is mounted to turn on a rod l2 connecting the side walls 6and has a releasing finger l3, indicated in. dot

and dash lines, with which a releasing member (not shown) engages toeffect the tripping of the latch. As the manner in which the latch istripped and the mechanism for accomplishing this function forms no partof this invention, it n 'end of the spring is anchored as at 15 and theother end engages a stud l6 carried by a gear sector ll fixed to thetrap door. Inasmuch as the gear sector I! is located at the forward sideof the door with respect to Figures 1 and 2, it has been indicated inconstruction lines.

Meshing with the sector I1 is a gear sector I3, which forms part of amovable track section IS, (the sector 18 and the track section i9 beingindicated in dot and dash lines). This movable track section, asexplained in the aforesaid application, is operable to effect thetilting of the trays 20, one of which is shown in its dischargingposition in Figures 1 and 2. For this purpose, each tray has a dependingarm 2! (shown in construction lines) carrying a roller 22, which,

when the tray is in discharging position, engages the movable tracksection l9.

The tray is pivotally mounted as at 23 from arms 24 carried by theendless chains 25. Consequently, as the gear sector l8 turns about itspivotal mounting and causes the movable track section 19 to swing, itcarries the tray with it and tips the same, from a horizontal position,shown in Figure l, to a vertical position shown in Figure 2, droppingthe contents of the tray down into the chute, whose trap door 8 has beenopened simultaneously with the tipping of the tray.

As hereinbefore brought out, difficulty has been experienced inmaintaining the articles on the trays. To offset this disadvantage, thepresent invention contemplates the provision of guards indicatedgenerally by the numeral 26, to hold the articles on the trays.

The guards are preferably formed of wire and comprise a rear bar 21journalled in bearings 28 carried by the rear wall 29 of the tray.Secured to the bar 21 directly outwardly of the bearings 29 are twoarched arms 30, the extremities of which are connected by a front bar3|. As clearly illustrated in Figure 4, the rear bar 21 is located alongthe rear wall 29 of the tray and the bar 3|, when the guard is in itsnormal position shown in Figure 4, is disposed adjacent the front wall32 of the tray.

The guard is held in its normal position arched over any article placedin the tray by means of a torsion spring 33 coiled about the rear bar 21with one end 34 hooked over the adjacent arm and its other end 35engaging the rear wall of the tray.

To limit the movement of the guard by the torsion spring, a lateralextension 36 is formed on the rear bar to engage the rear wall 29. Thisextension may be formed by bending the medial portion of the rear bar asshown.

It is, of course, obvious that if the article received in the tray is ofgreater height than the space beneath the guard, the guard will rest ontop of the article and hold the same in the tray with a spring tension.Articles are thus positively held in the trays and are held againstbeing jarred or thrown therefrom by excessive actuation of the handlethrough which the conveyer chain is actuated to effect a selection.

During tilting of the trays to discharge their contents, it is necessarythat the guards 26 be moved to an inoperative position to permit thetray contents to drop therefrom. For this purpose, a novel guard openingmeans, indicated generally by the numeral 38 is provided. This guardopening means comprises a cross bar 39 preferably formed of wire andbent at its medial portion to afford a lateral guard engaging fin-'lever 40.

Adjacent its ends, the cross bar 39 is journalled in bearings 4|,preferably formed of bendable metal and attached to the side walls ofthe chute by screws 42. The location of the bearings for the cross baris such that the guard actuating finger normally occupies a positionfrom which it swings to strike the front bar 3! of the guard of any trayin discharging position, to lift the same as illustrated in Figure 2.The swinging movement is imparted to the cross bar 39 through the mediumof the actuating lever 40', which is slidably received in a stud 43pivotally mounted on the free end of an arm 44 which is secured as at 45to the trap door, so that upon swinging movement of the trap door fromclosed to open position, the arm 44 moves to swing the cross bar, aswill be readily apparent. Upon return of the trap door to its normalclosed position, the cross bar is also returned to its normalinoperative position.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, thatthis invention affords a simple and effective guard to retain thearticles in their respective trays and that the release of the guard orits movement to inoperative position is effected in a simple positivemanner.

What I claim as my invention is:

In a vending machine including a discharge chute and a hinged doornormally closing the discharge chute, a plurality of article supportseach selectively positionable to discharge its contents into the chute,instrumentalities to effect the opening of the door of the dischargechute and the discharge of an article from a support into the chute, aguard carried by each article support to hold an article thereon, theguard being movable to an inoperative position to permit the dischargeof an article through the chute, and means operable concomitantly withthe opening of the door to engage and lift the guard to an inoperativeposition comprising a shaft mounted to turn on an axis parallel to thehinge axis of the door and parallel to the adjacent article support, afinger carried by the shaft and adapted to swing into engagement withthe guard as the shaft is turned in one direction, a lever projectingradially from the shaft, an arm fixed with respect to the door to swingabout the hinge axis of the door when the door is opened, and a studpivotally mounted on the outer end of said arm, said stud having atransverse opening in which the lever extending radially from said shaftis slidably disposed whereby swinging movement of the stud with the doorturns the shaft to lift the guard.

SHERWOOD C. IDE.

